Trump’s Affection for Russia Is No Mystery

A large majority of the Republican Party, including many officials who initially viewed Donald Trump with deep skepticism, decided early in Trump’s first term that the investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election were the hysterical product of Trump Derangement Syndrome in the Deep State and the media.

There was no mystery to solve, no scandal to uncover, in Trump’s affinity for Vladimir Putin.

And yet this strange alliance continues to bedevil American foreign policy.

On Friday afternoon, Trump announced that he had held another call with Putin, and came away once again depicting the Russian dictator as a cherished friend to whom he owes a great deal.

“I have just concluded a highly successful discussion with President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, wherein it was agreed that Russia will immediately supply over 300,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel to the American and Global Marketplace, another 500,000 Tons during the month of November, and 1,000,000 Tons immediately thereafter,” he wrote on Truth Social.

Later that day, Trump reemphasized his debt of gratitude.

“I want to thank President Putin, to be honest with you.

We have massive amounts of oil coming into our country, and it’s diesel, which is what we want.

So, thank you,” he told reporters outside the White House. [ Read: Why is Kash Patel planning to visit Russia? ] Many of Trump’s comments make little sense, and these were no exception.

But he was using a particular kind of illogic that conflicts with his standard brand of nonsense.

Trump typically depicts international trade in starkly mercantilist terms.

Exports, in his mind, are a form of profit, and imports are a loss.

Trump sees trade deficits as a form of theft, and conceives of a “good deal” as one in which the United States reduces its imports or increases its exports.

This holds true of all goods, including oil.